WALK AMONG THE POPPIES - MAY, 2020

The poppies explode in the fields outside of Quarante about every two or three years. Mostly appearing in fields of grain, suddenly we become aware that this will be a poppy year. Drives to the market or to visit friends, or just rambles through the country, reveal fields  decorated with unexpectedly bright slashes of red. Just one of the many reasons that this corner of Occitanie has captured our hearts. Let's take a walk.

An old friend. There's a mare and a gelding in a pasture just outside of town. They know that we bring carrots.

An attempt to capture the dominant colors - the amazingly blue sky as background to the poppies.

The vines are fully leafed out early this year, while the nasty yellow broom's pollen seeks out my nose with a vengeance.

Picture taking slows me down.

Poppies from the level of the path...

...and from above.

Poppies or not, the views from just outside the village are worth a quick promenade.

We often have to make way for cars or tractors or...

It's been a good year for all sorts of weeds and wild flowers.

CHRISTMAS WALK TO VIEW OF THE PYRENEES: 2018

Cathey said that it was OK for me to take my usual Tuesday morning walk on Christmas Day. I could help set the table and perform other minor tasks necessary for a satisfactory Christmas dinner with friends after I returned. So off I went. Temperature 40℉ at the start near sunup. 50℉ at the finish a couple of hours later. No wind. Blue skies. This was the winter that I came to France for.

The walk can't really be called scenic. Just through the vines until you get to the headland opposite the village. But the closer that you get to the top, you begin to see the Pyrenees peeking through. And at the top, it's a 360° panorama.

As always, start at the church. There's just something about the color of the sky...

For some reason, French Santa seems to prefer climbing in through the windows than down the chimneys.

Like I said, through the vines. Headed for the little hilltop.

Lousy camera in my cheap tablet. Thems ain't clouds. Thems the Pyrenees.

And looking back the way that I came from Quarante.

Woods at the top, the only shade if you're walking here in summer.

SOLO WALK TO LES FARGOUSSIERES: RESISTANCE!

I enjoy walking in groups but I also enjoy walking by myself. Setting my own pace. Trying new paths. Getting lost. The sorts of things that you can't do in a group, especially when you are in the lead. So when no one took up my offer to lead a walk the other day, I wasn't disappointed. All spring long, I'd been wanting to see what a walk to Le Fargoussieres would be like. I particularly wanted to check out a memorial to the French resistance that I'd visited a year or so ago on a walk sponsored by the local historical society.

I began on the path to the Croix de Juillet, a walk that our group has taken a time or two in the past. Then I broke off, took the paved road to the hamlet of Les Fargoussieres, visited the memorial, then found me way back to the return path of the Croix de Juillet walk. It all worked well. With the help of my GPS mapper, I didn't get lost. But the route was a few of kilometers longer that I thought that it would be. Shade was scarce as the day warmed up. My water ran out. I was on the cusp of sending up a flare. Add to that my disappointment that the memorial has not been well maintained - the weeds were waist high and the printed information sheets were not properly protected and were water stained - and I did not finish the day a happy hiker.

But here are the pics. I'll talk to the local historical society about fixing things up, maybe laminating some of the documents. You can find more of our walks and my takes on French life in general HERE and HERE.

Started in the church square as we so often do.

I could have taken the D184 all of the way to Les Fargoussieres, but that would have been too easy.

I have to remember to carry an apple or a pear or something.

It's been a good year for poppies. I'm headed up and over the hill in the upper left.

Three paths cross: the road, the greenway for walkers and bikes, and the path into the vines. Yes, I choose the path least traveled.

The path least traveled had a car at the top. Hunter? Working the vines? Walking the dog? Never saw whoever it was.

The storage tanks at the co-op make a good visual reference.

The yellow bastards have a picture of my nose imprinted on their DNA. As soon as they flower, they attack!

But they can't hide the lovely views...

And I walked to school and back every day, and it was uphill both ways.

It's been a good year for more than the poppies.

I don't remember seeing these before.

You can barely see the blue arrow on that rock but in life it's very prominent. Turn left at the T!

The blue X on the tree means that I'm going off the path to the Croix de Juillet.

The featureless D184. I never saw a car.

A small hamlet but an ancient one...

With well kept flower beds.

A roadside display for no apparent reason except to be pretty.

It's early spring but I would have thought that the weeds would have been mowed.

Water stained document telling the important story of young people risking their lives for their freedom.

This 'garden' is what's left of the hard work of the former Resistance fighter detailed above.

Leaving Les Fargoussieres and heading back into the vines.

Give me the words to describe views like this.

Not the Croix de Juillet. This is the Arab Cross.

Yes, the co-op can be seen in the distance. I can get home from here blindfolded.